Ice-cutting machine.



Patented Ah I, [899.

[Application filed Apr. 38, 1899.)

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No. 629,964. Patented Augi-l, 1899.-

- V E. E. JONES.

"5E CUTTING MACHINE.

(Application filed Apr. 25, 1899.)-

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i UNITED STATES PATENT Curios.

ELZIE E. JONES, OF MISSOURI VALLEY, IOWA.

ce our-rmc MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Iletters latent No. 629,964, dated August1, 1899.

Application filed April as, 1899.

To all whont it may concern: I

Be it known that I, ELZIE E. J ONES, a citizen of the United States,residing at Mismined sizes, and the apparatus includes alsohand-operated means for propelling the same.

With these ends in view the invention consists in the novel combinationof elements and in the construction and'arrangement of parts, which willbe hereinafter fully described and claimed.

To enable others to understand the invention, I have illustrated thepreferred embodiment thereof in the accompanying drawings, forming apart of this specification, and in which- Figure 1 is a side elevationof an ice-cutting machine constructed in accordance with my invention.Fig. 2 is a top plan View of the machine. Fig. 3 is a front elevation ofthe machine. Fig. elis a rear elevation, partly in section. Fig. 5 isan'enlarged detail sectional view of the traction mechanism. Fig. 6 is.a detail in perspective of the gage or guide. Fig. 7 is adetail inperspective of the supporting-bracket for the gage or guide.

Like characters denote like and corresponding parts in each oft-he'several figures of the drawings.

The difierent parts of the machine are supported upon a platform, whichmay be of any suitable construction or material adapted to sustain saidparts and one or more operators for turning the hand-cranks to drive thepro-.

peliing mechanism, and the platform is de-. noted by P, and it isprovided at suitable infervals with the depending runners 2, secured toits opposite edges and 'adapted to travel uponthe ice when the machineis shifted along the same when in use.

The uprights or standards o are secured to the upper side of theplatform and -err-tend senate. 714,852. tu model.)

vertically therefrom, and the braces are secured to the standards andproject diagonallyan'd oppositely therefrom, one end of the braces beingsecured to, the platform or deck,

ing-shaft 5, which is manually operated, preferably, by the workmen, whostand at opposite sides of the two standards. The shaft 5 is providedwith a master gear-wheel 6 and also at its opposite ends with the cranks7, provided with handles which are grasped by the two workmen who standupon the platform. The master gear-wheel is conneoted by a train ofinter-meshing gears with the saw, which is of the rotary circular kindandwhich is carried by a tilting frame.

The saw is denoted by S, and it is adapted to be lowered in contact withthe ice for the purpose of cutting a groove therein and the lowering thesaw-frame F. The saw-shaft is denoted by 8,- and it is carried at theextreme outer end of the frame and is provided with a pinion 9, meshingwith the gear 10, which in which are supported by the side bars 13 ofthe saw-frame. The'gear l2 meshes with the wide pinion 14, whichreceives rotary motion from the gear 15, carried by the shaft 16,whichin turn is provided with a pinion l7, meshing with the master-gear 6.The pinion 14is carried by the, shaft. 18., which, with the shaft 16,is'rotatively supported by the angularly-disposed braces 4', and theshaft 18 is in the nature of a pivot for sustaining the tiltingsawframe' F and permitting the necessary adjustmen ts thereof, the sidemembers of the frame having openings to receive said shaft. Upon aninspection of the drawings it will be seen that the trainiof meshinggears is a multiplying'one, whereby the saw will be driven at a highrate of speedfor the purpose of cutting the ice;

saw S can be passed when its frame Fislowered for the purpose ofreaching. the ice, and the depth of the groove can be regulated and thesaw held firmly in its adjusted position.

A sector is shown at 20 having a flange 21, which is adapted to receivefastening devices to hold'said sector in place, and the handwhile theother end sustains the main drivdepth of which can be regulated byraising or i turn meshes with a gear 12 and the shafts of of theplatform, and said crank-shaft is provided with a second crank-arm 28 atits opposite end, which is pivoted to the bail 29, the branches of whichhave eyes to receive the transverse shaft 30, located between the sidepieces 13 of the side frame. When the pawl 23 is lifted out ofengagement with the teeth of the sector 20, the saw-frame can belowered.

the proper distance by swinging the hand-lever 22 forward, and thereverse operation can be secured by oppositely moving the hand-lever,and the frame may be maintained in the selected position by permittingthe pawl to fall in engagement with the cooperating teeth of the sector.

The longitudinal rod 31 is jointed to the gravity-pawl 23 and also tothe small elbowlever 32, pivoted to the hand-lever near the handlethereof, and by operating the small lever the pawl can be raised clearof the sector-teeth through the intermediate connecting-rod.

It will be remembered that the machine is moved from place to placealong the ice by means of manually-operated driving or propellingmechanism, the operators standing upon the platform near the rear of themachine.

Two traction-wheels are represented at 33, and they are carried by theshaft 34, which is rotativelysupported by the yieldingly-mounted frame35, the side bars of which are adapted to receive the shaft 35,supported by the brackets or bearings 36 upon the uprights 3, and thisshaft is provided with a cone speedsprocket 37, any one of thedifferent-sized wheels of which sprocketis adapted to receive thesprocket-chain 8, which passes over the complementary wheel of thereversely-arranged cone speed-sprocket 39, secured to the main shaft 5.The cones represented obviate removal and a different-sized one can besubstituted for the purpose of effecting changes in the speed of themachine. The shaft 35 is provided with a pinion 40, meshing with thegear 41, the shaft of which is carried by the yieldingly-mounted frame35 and which meshes with the pinion 42 upon the traction-wheel shaft oraxle 34, and by rotating the powershaft the traction-wheels may berotated for the purpose of driving the machine either forward orbackward, as occasion requires.

The frame 35 is held down with the traction-wheels thereon in con tactwith the ice by means of the spring 43, having a loop 44 at one endfitting over the squared portion 45 of the fixed shaft 46, supported bybearings 47 upon the platform or deck P, and the opposite end of thespring has an eye to receive the bail '48, the branches of which areconnected to the side pieces of said yieldinglysupported frame. Thegear-wheels are preferably mounted upon ro'llerbearings, and theirshafts are fixed or stationary. The traction-wheel frame projectsthrough a slot or opening 49 in the platform, and it is lifted clear ofthe ice by means of the lever 50, secured to the rock-shaft 46, and saidlever is adapted to engage projections or teeth upon the adjacentstandard or upright 3 for the purpose of holding it in its shiftedposition and therefore maintaining the frame elevated.

Means are provided for lifting the rear runners off the ice when it isnecessary to turn the machine, and said means includes in itsconstruction the feed-screw 51, which extends loosely through theangular shoe 52, located below the platform and the working portion ofwhich is normally disposed above the runners 2. When, however, itbecomes necessary to elevate the rear end of the machine, the feed-screwis turned, thereby forcing the shoe against the ice and elevating theplatform as the feed operation progresses and of course lifting therunners at the rear off the ice. The screw 51 is vertically disposed andpasses through the fixed nut 53, secured to the under side of theplatform, and is provided with a hand-wheel 54, by which it may beturned, and is supported near its upper end by the riser 55. Thehand-wheel is provided with a handle 56, by which it can be readilyturned.

The machine is equipped with agage device by which the distance betweenthe cuts or grooves can be regulated with precision, and this gagedevice is adjustable and preferably laterally of the platform and servesto hold the saw at the proper distance from the cut, thereby insuringuniformity.

The gage device consists of a plate 57,which is vertically disposed andwhich is in parallelism with the saw; but this parallelism can bevaried, of course, to separate the two parts at different distances, andthe plate is made sufliciently long to prevent side motion of themachine when it is in a cut. The shank of the gage-plate is denoted by58, and it is of U shape, and its cross-bar is adapted to be held in twoalined notches 59, formed in the vertical duplicate walls of the bracket60, which is secured to the upper side of the platform in proximity tothe saw, and it will be understood that each of the walls or flanges ofthe bracket has a series of notches into which the transverse portion ofthe U shaped shank of the gage device can be set, and the shank, andconsequently the gage device, will be held in fixed position by means ofthe L- shaped spring 61, which bears against said transverse portion ofthe shank.

In operation the saw will be lowered to the proper extent and will beheld in such position in the manner hereinbefore specified,

after which the machine will be driven forward by rotating'thepower-shaft 5 through the intermediate connections, and simultaneeeaec la ously the saw will be rotated to out a groove or channel in the ice,and in making the second cut the gage device will be inserted in thefirst cut, so as to insure the travel of the machine in the proper path.

Changes in the form, proportion, size, and the minor details ofconstruction within the scope of the appended claims may be resorted towithout departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantagesof this invention.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim is r 1. In a machineof the class specified, the combination with a platform-and with meansfor propelling the same, of a saw, a tilting frame, a power-shaftprovided with handcranks, driving mechanism between the power-shaft andthe saw, traction-wheels operatively connected with and driven by saidpower-shaft, a frame for supporting the traction-wheels, a shaft, a bailconnected with the frame, and a spring secured respectively to the shaftand to the bail, substantially as described.

2. In a machine of the class specified, the combination with a platformand with means for propelling the same, of a saw, a tilting frame forcarrying the saw, means for lifting said frame, a power-shaft, drivingmechanism between the power-shaf t and the saw, tractionwheclsoperatively connected with and driven by said power-shaft, a rock-shafthaving a squared portion, a spring provided with a loop.

fitting over said squared portion, a frame for carrying thetraction-Wheels, a bail secured respectively to the frame and to saidspring, and a lever fixed to said rock-shaft, substantially asdescribed.

3. In a machine of the class specified, the combination with aplatform,ofa tilting frame provided with a saw, means for raising andlowering the frame, a power-shaft operatively connected with the saw, agage-plate provided with a shank, and a notched bracket secured to theplatform, the notches being adapted to receive the shank, substantiallyas described.

4. In a machine of the class described, the combination with aplatform,of a tilting frame provided with a saw, means for raising andlowering the frame, a power-shaft operatively connected with the saw, agage-plate provided with a shank, a notched bracket secured to theplatform, the notches being adapted to receive the shank, and a springbearing against said shank,su bstantially as described.

5. In a machine of the class specified, the combination with a platformand with means for propelling the same, of a saw, a tilting frame forcarrying the saw, means for lifting said frame, a gage-plate disposed inparallelism with the saw and provided with a U- shaped shank, a bracketprovided with upright walls having alined notches to receive the crossportions of said shank, and a spring secured to the platform and bearingagainst said crossed portion, substantially as described.

v 6. In a machine of the class specified, the

and provided with a hand-wheel and carrying at its lower end a shoewhich is normally dis posed above the lower edges of said runners,traction-wheels, a pivoted frame for the traction-Wheels, a rockshafthaving a squared portion, a spring provided with a loop fitted over saidsquared portion, a bail secured to the traction-wheel frame and to saidspring,

and means for operating the rock-shaft, substantially as described. 7

7. In a machine of the class specified, the combination of a platformand with means for propelling the same, of a saw, a tilting frame forcarrying the saw, means for lifting the frame, a series of runnersdepending from the platform, a feed-screw carried by the platform andprovided with a hand-wheel and'c-arrying at its lower end a shoe whichis normally disposed above the lower edges of said runners, and a'gagedevice disposed in parallelism with the sa wand transversely adjustablerelatively to the platform, traction-Wheels, a pivoted frame for thetraction-wheels, a rock-shaft having a squared portion, a springprovided With a loop fitted over said squared portion, a bail secured tothe traction-Wheel frame and to said spring, and means for operating therock-shaft, substantially as described.

8. In a machine of the class specified, the combination with a platformhaving a series of depending runners, of a power-shaft, a tilting frameprovided with a saw, a series of intermeshing speed-m ultiplying gearsintermediate the power-shaft and the saw, a sector, a lever connectedwith said frame and pro vided with a pawl adapted to cooperate with theteeth of the sector,traction-wheels, a yieldingly-supported frame forcarrying the traction-wheels, means for raising and lowering saidlast-mentioned frame, a feed-screw carried by the platform and providedwith a hand-wheel and with a shoe, operative connections between saidpower-shaft and the traction-wheels, and a gage-plate parallel with thesaw and adjustably connected with the platform, substantially asdescribed.

9. In an ice-cutting machine, the combina tion with the platform, ofavertically-adjustable swinging frame carrying a saw, acorrespondingly-adjustable swinging frame carrying traction-Wheels, arock-shaft having a squared portion, a spring provided with a loopfitted over said squared portion, a bail secured to the traction-wheelframe and to said spring, means for operating the rock-shaft and commonpower-gearing for simultaneously transferring motion to the'saw and saidtractionwheels, substantially as set forth.

10. In an ice-cutting machine, the combination with the platform and acutting-saw supported thereon of a vertically-swim gingframe' carryingtraction mechanism, and an adjustable spring operatively connected withsaid frame to p ovide for holding the traction device on the ice,substantially as set forth.

11. In an ice-cutting machine, the combination with the platform and acutting-saw supported thereon, of a vertically-swinging frame carryingtraction mechanism,and a rock-shaft carrying an oft-standing springoperatively connected with said frame, substantially as set forth.

12. In an ice-cutting machine, the combination of the platform carryingpropelling and cutting mechanism, of a gage-plate having an offstandingbail pivotally and adjustably connected with the platform, substantiallyas set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixedmy signature in the presence of two witnesses.

ELZIE E. JONES.

\Vitnesses:

J. ZAHNER, VV. T. RODEN.

